Trust (TV Series)
Jul. 9th, 2022 06:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakHaving last year watched All the Money in the World, Ridley Scott's take on the Getty kidnapping, on Netflix, I just finished the tv miniseries Trust, which is Danny Boyle's and Simon Beaufoy's take on the same subject.
Some of the differences come with the different format - where All the Money in the World has four important characters and of those, Gail (Michelle Williams) as the clear central character, in whose pov we mostly, though not always, are, Trust is far more of an ensemble story which deliberately switches viewpoints and main characters with the episodes, so for example the last but one episode puts the spotlight on several of the kidnappers and their families, is near exclusively in Italian, and has the kidnapped John Paul Getty III. as the cameo-ing guest star. The film shows only Old Getty, Gail and young Paul as the family members with dialogue, and in two scenes Gail's former husband, the second JPG, while the series offers Old Getty's other sons as well - in fact, it starts with the surreal suicide (by fork) of one - , and his harem, i.e. the four mistresses he keeps with him; the role of Paul the second, Gail's ex, is far larger. We get to know Paul the third's friends and lovers as well. Basically the kind of thing a tv show can dive into but a movie has to cut down.
But there are important characterisation and story differences as well. Crucially, Trust goes with the theory that 16-years-old Paul (3) arranged his own kidnapping at first in order to clear his debts via getting some money from Grandpa, then, when his grandfather wouldn't pay, gets sold by the small time crooks he'd arranged to be kidnapped by to far more hardcore criminals, at which point the kidnapping has become real. (All the money in the world has Fletcher Chace, the ex-CiA agent who works for Old Getty, conclude young Paul faked his own kidnapping at first because some of Paul's friends have told him Paul used to joke about it, but it also has Chace being mistaken in this.) Correspondingly, Old Getty's initial refusal to pay the ransom comes across as more justified, and Old Getty as a bit less of a monster in general. Donald Sutherland!Getty gets a few humanizing scenes like being sincerely horrified when shown a photo of the burned corpse (wrongly) assumed to be Paul's at one point, or actually going to the trouble of negotiating with a Mafia Don himself once he's convinced the kidnapping is real. In the end, though, he's characterized as a monster as well, not least because we get to see how he treats his staff (letting the dogs terrorize the head gardener just because he can, naming the butler "Bullimore" which used to be the previous Butler's name because he can't be arsed to learn a new name), and both versions can't resist providing the old fright with some (fictional, as far as I know) come-uppances in the end. All the Money in the World had him die three years ahead of schedule, simultanously to young Paul getting released, while Trust has his two most likeable mistresses leave him, the butler quitting (and finding happiness with the gardener) and various papers review the finally launched Getty Museum as over the top and gaudy.
Mind you, one can argue the corrupting force of money in the general villain of Trust; JPG 2, who in "All the money" only shows up briefly, first in flashback as a happy young father and then in the present as a wrung out drug addict, in Trust is a prominent supporting character, and a deepy unsympathetic one, who in the first episode when it looks like Old Getty might take to teenage Paul (who has shown up to ask for the money to clear his debts and turns out to be the only family member wiho gets Old Getty's passion for art) is jealous of his own son and sabotages him by telling Old JPG about the centrefold young Paul has just done for a gay magazine. Later in the series, he even refuses to contribute to the ransom sum as a way to have a power struggle with Dad.
Both takes have Gail as the only (ex) Getty not a human wreck or en route to becoming one, and in her maternal concern and fight for her child the heart of the story, but Michelle Williams' Gail in Scott's movie is a far steelier and smarter character, while Hilary Swank's Gail starts out downright naive and at times overshadowed by Brendan Fraser's Fletcher Chace, a far more interesting character than the Chace in Scott's movie, as well as playing the narrator at different points.
Both versions let Paul bond with one of the kidnappers (after the kidnapping has become real), though a different one in either taken, and both provide him with a dramatic and in the end foiled escape attempt, presumably to have a suspenseful action sequence. Trust's young Paul is played by Harris Dickinson who at times looks eerily like the young David Bowie, which given the main story is set in 1973 fits very well. (Especially since the series goes into more detail about his pre-kidnapped bohemian life and general fearlessness.) One thing surprised me, though; Scott's movie, with less screentime, nonetheless makes it clear young Paul is fluent in Italian, which makes sense given he's grown up in the country and most of his friends are native speakers. Trust, which is fine with large bits of subtitled Italian dialogue otherwise, has him incapable of saying more than a few words and thus needing an English translator all the time. Perhaps the actor wasn't able to learn or fake speaking the language?
Oh, and another thing: both movie and series have Old Getty declare at some point that he's the reincanation of Hadrian, so I take it he really did believe that. Neither take, however, has anyone ask JPG: If you're Hadrian, then where is your Antinous?
Generally, the series feels more sprawling and less taut and suspenseful than the movie, but also richer and more complicated. Both, though, are convinced of the Getty money as an active force of evil, with not so coincidentally characters being the happier and saner the further away they are from it. The series also has a lot of black humor - George Getty's suicide at the start being a case in point, but also the ending for the kidnappers - but doesn't shy away from playing it straight with tragedy, either: the grandmother of the guy whose burned body is briefly mistaken for Paul's showing up being a case in point.
All in alll, I found it compelling to watch, though periodically I wished for a fusion, because All the Money in the World did have the superior Gail, and I missed Michelle Williams' version throughout.
Some of the differences come with the different format - where All the Money in the World has four important characters and of those, Gail (Michelle Williams) as the clear central character, in whose pov we mostly, though not always, are, Trust is far more of an ensemble story which deliberately switches viewpoints and main characters with the episodes, so for example the last but one episode puts the spotlight on several of the kidnappers and their families, is near exclusively in Italian, and has the kidnapped John Paul Getty III. as the cameo-ing guest star. The film shows only Old Getty, Gail and young Paul as the family members with dialogue, and in two scenes Gail's former husband, the second JPG, while the series offers Old Getty's other sons as well - in fact, it starts with the surreal suicide (by fork) of one - , and his harem, i.e. the four mistresses he keeps with him; the role of Paul the second, Gail's ex, is far larger. We get to know Paul the third's friends and lovers as well. Basically the kind of thing a tv show can dive into but a movie has to cut down.
But there are important characterisation and story differences as well. Crucially, Trust goes with the theory that 16-years-old Paul (3) arranged his own kidnapping at first in order to clear his debts via getting some money from Grandpa, then, when his grandfather wouldn't pay, gets sold by the small time crooks he'd arranged to be kidnapped by to far more hardcore criminals, at which point the kidnapping has become real. (All the money in the world has Fletcher Chace, the ex-CiA agent who works for Old Getty, conclude young Paul faked his own kidnapping at first because some of Paul's friends have told him Paul used to joke about it, but it also has Chace being mistaken in this.) Correspondingly, Old Getty's initial refusal to pay the ransom comes across as more justified, and Old Getty as a bit less of a monster in general. Donald Sutherland!Getty gets a few humanizing scenes like being sincerely horrified when shown a photo of the burned corpse (wrongly) assumed to be Paul's at one point, or actually going to the trouble of negotiating with a Mafia Don himself once he's convinced the kidnapping is real. In the end, though, he's characterized as a monster as well, not least because we get to see how he treats his staff (letting the dogs terrorize the head gardener just because he can, naming the butler "Bullimore" which used to be the previous Butler's name because he can't be arsed to learn a new name), and both versions can't resist providing the old fright with some (fictional, as far as I know) come-uppances in the end. All the Money in the World had him die three years ahead of schedule, simultanously to young Paul getting released, while Trust has his two most likeable mistresses leave him, the butler quitting (and finding happiness with the gardener) and various papers review the finally launched Getty Museum as over the top and gaudy.
Mind you, one can argue the corrupting force of money in the general villain of Trust; JPG 2, who in "All the money" only shows up briefly, first in flashback as a happy young father and then in the present as a wrung out drug addict, in Trust is a prominent supporting character, and a deepy unsympathetic one, who in the first episode when it looks like Old Getty might take to teenage Paul (who has shown up to ask for the money to clear his debts and turns out to be the only family member wiho gets Old Getty's passion for art) is jealous of his own son and sabotages him by telling Old JPG about the centrefold young Paul has just done for a gay magazine. Later in the series, he even refuses to contribute to the ransom sum as a way to have a power struggle with Dad.
Both takes have Gail as the only (ex) Getty not a human wreck or en route to becoming one, and in her maternal concern and fight for her child the heart of the story, but Michelle Williams' Gail in Scott's movie is a far steelier and smarter character, while Hilary Swank's Gail starts out downright naive and at times overshadowed by Brendan Fraser's Fletcher Chace, a far more interesting character than the Chace in Scott's movie, as well as playing the narrator at different points.
Both versions let Paul bond with one of the kidnappers (after the kidnapping has become real), though a different one in either taken, and both provide him with a dramatic and in the end foiled escape attempt, presumably to have a suspenseful action sequence. Trust's young Paul is played by Harris Dickinson who at times looks eerily like the young David Bowie, which given the main story is set in 1973 fits very well. (Especially since the series goes into more detail about his pre-kidnapped bohemian life and general fearlessness.) One thing surprised me, though; Scott's movie, with less screentime, nonetheless makes it clear young Paul is fluent in Italian, which makes sense given he's grown up in the country and most of his friends are native speakers. Trust, which is fine with large bits of subtitled Italian dialogue otherwise, has him incapable of saying more than a few words and thus needing an English translator all the time. Perhaps the actor wasn't able to learn or fake speaking the language?
Oh, and another thing: both movie and series have Old Getty declare at some point that he's the reincanation of Hadrian, so I take it he really did believe that. Neither take, however, has anyone ask JPG: If you're Hadrian, then where is your Antinous?
Generally, the series feels more sprawling and less taut and suspenseful than the movie, but also richer and more complicated. Both, though, are convinced of the Getty money as an active force of evil, with not so coincidentally characters being the happier and saner the further away they are from it. The series also has a lot of black humor - George Getty's suicide at the start being a case in point, but also the ending for the kidnappers - but doesn't shy away from playing it straight with tragedy, either: the grandmother of the guy whose burned body is briefly mistaken for Paul's showing up being a case in point.
All in alll, I found it compelling to watch, though periodically I wished for a fusion, because All the Money in the World did have the superior Gail, and I missed Michelle Williams' version throughout.
